Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Merkel holds news conference after CDU party board meeting in Berlin

German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union ( CDU) Angela Merkel holds a news conference after a CDU party board meeting in Berlin September 23, 2013, the day after the general election. Merkel faces the daunting prospect of persuading her centre-left rivals to keep her in power after her conservatives notched up their best election result in more than two decades but fell short of an absolute majority. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS HEADSHOT)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Conservatives announced that they plan to hold a third round of talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) on Thursday about the possibility of forming a coalition government.

After eight hours of closed-door discussions in Berlin between representatives of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the SPD, CDU secretary general Hermann Groehe said a formal decision on more talks would be made later Tuesday. (AFP)